WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – It was a big week for LIU Post athletics, and multiple Pioneers were honored by the East Coast Conference as Players of the Week the league office announced April 9.
Six Pioneers earned weekly honors, including softball's
Patricia Dun and
Hannah Olshevski, baseball's
James Varela, men's lacrosse's
Connor Farrell and
William Snelders, and women's lacrosse's
Olivia Kirk.
The LIU Post softball team went 5-1 on the week behind the efforts of Dun and Olshevski. Dun was recognized as the league's Rookie of the Week after hitting .611 on the week with six runs scored and four sacrifices. The freshman recorded two or more hits in four games, including three three-hit contests. In the circle, Olshevski was a perfect 3-0 with one save. The junior allowed just five runs over 22.0 innings, shutting out Caldwell University on April 8 and added a scoreless inning to earn the save against Mercy College on April 7.
Baseball had another impressive week on the diamond as well, finishing 4-1 with a four-game sweep of Queens College in ECC play. Varela continued his dominant ways on the mound, tossing his fifth consecutive complete game, needing 10 innings of work to get the win against the Knights in the series opener. Varela allowed just one run in the 10th inning, striking out 10 batters to improve to 7-0 on the season.
The Pioneers had an outstanding week on the turf as well, as the men's and women's lacrosse teams combined to go 3-1. On the men's side, the Pioneers dominated Post University and St. Thomas Aquinas College behind strong efforts by Farrell and Snelders. In the faceoff circle, Farrell recorded a 93 percent winning percentage for the week, including a perfect 23-for-23 effort against Post. With the perfect record, Farrell became one of seven players in Division II this season to not lose a faceoff in a game (with a minimum of 10 faceoffs won). The dominating effort helped the Pioneers control momentum through possession, and Snelders added another big week on the offensive end for his third weekly award this season, scoring 12 goals and adding three assists for 15 points.
On the women's side, the Pioneers suffered a tough 7-5 loss to No. 2/3 Adelphi University, but took down the University of Bridgeport 15-2 for a .500 week. Kirk played a big role as she was outstanding between the pipes, compiling a .742 save percentage with 23 saves. Kirk allowed just eight goals over the two contests and added a season-high 17-save performance against Adelphi on April 7.